mamamusings: March 4, 2003

a not-so-academic rant

Let’s play a little search-and-replace game. From Gary Sauer-Thompson comes this quote about academia:

Basically I couldn’t wait to get out. Political life was a breath of fresh air and I felt alive once again. I had no desire to return. Today if tenure was offered I would not take it. The security is not worth the sacrifice of autonomy by living a sick mode of life.

Then this morning, after breakfast, I read this and this by Dorothea; this by Alex; this and this by Liz and this by Baraita.

What did I came across in my reading? Insularity for one thing.

Few looked beyond the walls of academia to see themselves in the context of public policy or political life. Most were concerned with their life within the institution.

Hmmm. I am truly amazed to find these particular stones being hurled out of the glass house of politics. So, let’s try this version:

Basically I couldn’t wait to get out. Political Academic life was a breath of fresh air and I felt alive once again. I had no desire to return. Today if a tenure politicial appointment was offered I would not take it. The security power is not worth the sacrifice of autonomy integrity by living a sick mode of life.

Then this morning, after breakfast, I read various cites removed all these attacks on academia.

What did I came across in my reading? Insularity for one thing.

Few looked beyond the walls of academia their own experiences to see themselves in the context of public policy or political life thoughtful analysis or philosophy. Most were concerned with their life within the institution organization.

Ooooh…that was fun! Was there ever a field more ripe for this type of criticism than professional politics?? Certainly if I had to pick an area that was rife with insular, twisted minds, that would be the one I’d seize up on first. But you know what? There are also people like MB Williams—and, I suspect, Gary himself—who show us another side.

Okay, I realize I’m getting cranky here (thus the “curmudgeonly” category), but really, now. Can we please stop with the blanket dismissals of all academics as insular and self-absorbed, and academic environments as sick and wrong?

In terms of the numbers of academic bloggers, which Gary dismisses as negligible—I’d argue that as a percentage of their population, there are quite a lot of academic blogger. And so far as I can tell, most of them regularly look at larger political and public policy issues (and the relationship between their field of study and those issues). Look at the people on my academic blogroll (and add in AKMA, of course) for just a few examples.

And to assert that these people are all “insular” implies to me that Gary must not be reading anything except our posts responding to Dorothea. Did he bother to look at the grant proposal I recently wrote on blogging/microcontent? At the conversations between me and the Happy Tutor? The mix of academics and other bloggers in Joi’s recent “happenings” on Emergent Democracy?

Most “academics” with blogs (and, btw, how do we define that? Is Lessig an “academic?” Reynolds? Both are professors…) have links and conversations with a wide variety of people outside of academia.

Why I allow myself to get so irritated and drawn into these straw man debates, I don’t know. It’s clear that the people determined to characterize academia as “sick” won’t be swayed by any of my “insular,” “survivor bias” comments. But it’s spring break, I don’t want to clean house, my kids are in school, and I obviously have way too much time on my hands to pick fights!